Yesterday's final round of the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond was not so much a charge to victory by Retief Goosen, merely a lap of honour. Goosen, who led the tournament from the first round, started the day with a three-shot lead and ambled his way along the bonny, bonny banks to collect the £366,660 sterling first-place cheque. It took the South African's earnings to £1.1 million in the past 28 days.
Goosen, who won the US Open a month ago, did not exactly finish the final round in style. He bogeyed the last two holes for a level-par 71, but could have bogeyed the last four and still won the title with a stroke to spare. Goosen finished the four days with a four-round total of 268, 16 under par, and a three-shot victory over the Dane Thomas Bjorn. Bjorn earned £244,440 for his efforts.
Paul McGinley, Adam Scott, John Daly and Barry Lane shared third place on 12 under. Darren Clarke was a stroke further back on 11 under in seventh place.
Goosen said it was important to win again after his US Open victory to prove that Tulsa was no fluke.
"There are players that have won majors and then not won afterwards," said Goosen. "Paul Lawrie hasn't won since the 1999 Open. Mark Brooks hasn't won since the 1996 PGA Championship. I think I proved something to myself."
Goosen left Loch Lomond looking forward to the Open championship at Royal Lytham. He will play a practice round tomorrow morning with Gary Player and Ernie Els, after a day off today. However, his biggest goal this season still is to win the European Tour Order of Merit.
Bjorn fired a final-round 67, his fourth sub-70 round of the week. "That was a good performance," he said. "I played proper golf, straight down the middle and controlled. I hit my irons pure."
Scott started the day in second place, three shots behind Goosen, but could not muster any sort of a challenge. He returned a one-over-par 72 yesterday. Scott is 21 today, and will not be celebrating much.
The round of the day came from Ireland's the22-year-old British Amateur champion Michael Hoey. The Belfast player fired a closing 64, which included a seven-under-par 29 for the front nine with seven birdies and two pars. He was the only player all week to break 30 on the opening nine holes.
He could not keep up that pace on the final nine, but still finished nine strokes better than his playing companion, Michael Campbell.
Fifteen players received exemptions into this week's Open from the Loch Lomond tournament. Scott, Thomas Levet, Ian Woosnam, Peter O'Malley, Niclas Fasth, Raphael Jacquelin and David Howell qualified for finishing as the top seven on a mini-order of merit.
Barry Lane, Brett Rumford, Greg Owen, Daren Lee, Frederik Jacobson, Geoff Ogilvy, Soren Hansen and John Bickerton qualified for Lytham as the top eight at Loch Lomond not otherwise exempt.
